


Walkin' My Baby Back Home

by JoMo3



Category: Stranger Things (TV 2016)
Genre: F/M, Fluff
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2017-03-26
Updated: 2017-03-26
Packaged: 2018-10-10 21:03:52
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: Creator Chose Not To Use Archive Warnings
Chapters: 1
Words: 1,282
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/10447464
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/JoMo3/pseuds/JoMo3
Summary: Mike walks Eleven home.A fluffy little one-shot.





	

**Author's Note:**

> I'm a sucker for old songs (well, at least Nat King Cole)-hence the title. Enjoy!

_ April, 1986 _

 

It was a cool spring day in Hawkins, Indiana. Mike Wheeler, Dustin Henderson, Will Byers, Lucas Sinclair, and El Byers had just finished working on their homework at Dustin’s and had decided to call it a night.

Will had gone with Lucas over to his house-the two also had a project coming up in their reading class. So Mike decided to walk El back to the Byers’. The Henderson home was halfway between the Wheelers’ and her own, so Mike didn’t mind the walk at all. Besides, over the past few days Mike had been trying to find the right moment to officially ask El to be his girlfriend, and he figured this was as good a time as any.

The two weren’t official  _ yet _ , although everyone figured that they were. They'd been on a few unofficial “dates” and kissed a few times since El had come back. And even without saying it, Mike knew he loved El and she knew she was in love with him, too.

As the sun started to set in the sky, the two teens began the long walk down Mirkwood.

“You didn’t have to walk me,” El told Mike as they started their trek.

Mike shrugged his shoulders. “I wanted to make sure you got home okay, El,” he said. In truth (and she felt the same way), he’d take any chance he got to spend with her.

“So, I've been meaning to ask you,” Mike began, “what's your favorite class this semester?”

Without hesitation, El answered “English lit.”

Mike made a face, causing her to giggle. “Why  _ that _ ?” he asked. 

“I like the stories,” she replied. “The Catcher in the Rye, Romeo & Juliet, 20,000 Leagues Under the Sea…” she smiled, taking a breath. “They're so…”

“Boring?” Mike said, causing El to playfully push him. 

“No, mouth breather,” she said, “I was going to say interesting. Plus,” she said shyly, “It's the only class I have with you.”

He grinned back at her. When El had first started school, her class schedule was nearly identical to the boys’, so she would have a familiar face in each class. But recently she'd wanted to branch out on her own, and take classes that were more up her alley.

Originally Mike was going to take the same class as Will and Lucas, but he had wanted a class with El, so he’d signed up for the same lit class as her.

“What about you, what’s your favorite class?” she asked, already knowing the answer.

“Physics,” he said. “Mr. Williams isn’t Mr. Clarke, but it’s still so cool.”

El shook her head. “It’s confusing.”

“And English lit isn’t?” he asked with a smile.

She narrowed her eyes at him, with a grin on her face.

They walked quietly for a few minutes, enjoying each other's company, when they passed a familiar spot. 

Nodding, she pointed it out. “This is where you found me,” she said, referring to the night that Mike, Lucas, and Dustin had stumbled upon her in the woods.

They stopped walking. Neither of them could ever forget that night. Mike, searching for his friend, and El, desperately trying to get away from the bad men. She shivered, thinking about it. 

“You okay?” Mike asked. 

She nodded her head. 

“Do you ever wonder what might have happened if we didn’t cross paths that night?” Mike asked.

El shook her head. “I try not to.”

“Me too,” he said, taking her hand. She smiled at him, and the two kept walking.

“Can I be honest?” El asked after they’d put some distance between themselves and that particular spot in the woods.

“Sure,” Mike replied.

“I’m...glad you walked me home, Mike. I don’t like to go this way alone.”

“I don’t mind,” he said. “Besides, the...the bad men are gone. They aren’t there anymore.”

He was referring to Hawkins Lab, which  had been shut down a year ago, and was scheduled to be demolished over the summer.

“I have dreams about that night, sometimes,” she told him. Smiling, she said “I was so scared.”

“You were scared? We were looking for our friend, in the dark, in the rain, and we heard a noise; I thought it was a bear or something.”

“A bear? In these woods?”

Mike shrugged. “I was twelve, I didn’t know any better.”

Smiling at the ground, she said “You were so nice to me, right from the start.”

“How could I not be? You were so confused, and lost…”

“You felt sorry for me?”

“I felt  _ some _ thing for you,” Mike said. “I wanted to save you.”

Looking at him, she said, “You did.”

He smiled back at her. “I didn’t know that you’d end up being the coolest, bravest girl I’ve ever met.”

El smiled. “Thank you, Mike, but you’re braver than me.”

“Are you kidding? You stood up to Troy for me. You tore yourself apart to save me, Lucas, and Dustin from the Demogorgon, you put yourself through so much for us, El. I, I…” he shook his head. “I could never be as brave as you.”

She stopped, facing him. “You jumped off a cliff to save Dustin, Mike. You stood up to Lucas to defend me. You pushed down Troy to defend Will. And you  _ waited _ for me, Mike.” Feeling tears stinging the back of her eyes, she shook them away. “You’re the brave one.”

He shook his head. “Let’s just call it a tie, okay?”

She smiled, nodded her head, and they kept walking.

Minutes later, they could see the Byers’ home coming up. Slowing down a little bit, Mike sighed. “Almost there.”

“Will you be okay? Walking home?” she asked him. “I could ask Hop to drive you back.”

“No, I’m fine, El.”

They got to the porch, and El turned to face him. “Thank you.”

“You’re welcome, El.” Rubbing the back of his neck, he said “Hey, El?”

“Yes?”

“Um...do you wanna...I don’t know, uh...would you be my….girlfriend?”

Smiling, she stepped forward, giving him a brief kiss. “Yes.”

Mike felt as if a weight had been lifted. Smiling at her, he said, “Cool.”

“I was wondering when you were going to ask me, mouth breather,” she said, grinning mischievously at him.

“Well, it was either that, or tell you I l…” he stopped, eyes widening.

“Tell me what?” El asked, curious.

“Uh...um...that…” he decided to let the cat out of the bag. “That I love you, El.”

“You do?” she asked, her own eyes widening.

He silently nodded his head.

She took another step closer. “I love you, too, Mike.”

“You do?”

“Of course,” she said. “You didn’t know?”

“No. Did you, uh..did you know I loved you?”

“No,” she said, shaking her head.

“Oh. Well, I love you, El.”

“I love you, Mike.”

Stepping closer, they wrapped each other in a tight embrace. Tilting his head down, Mike brought El’s lips to his own, and planted a kiss on them.

“Ew, gross,” someone said behind them. The two turned and saw Will riding up on his bike. “Get off my sister, Wheeler.”

El and Mike let go of each other, both turning pink.

Will parked his bike, shaking his head at the two of them. Going inside, he gave Mike a light punch on the arm.

“I guess I’ll see you tomorrow?” Mike asked El.

She nodded her head.

Turning to leave, he turned back one more time. Now that the two had said it, he loved the way it felt on his tongue. “I love you, El.”

Smiling, she said “I love you too, Mike.” Still smiling, she went into the house.


End file.
